River Raisin Ragtime Revue’s 13th annual Ragtime Extravaganza will coincide with Adrian’s Bicentennial Celebration and the Adrian Center for the Arts 10th Anniversary. The Extravaganza will be held on Saturday, July 5 2025 beginning at 2PM on the PlaneWave Instruments Campus, 1375 N. Main St. Adrian (entrance off Curtis Rd.)
This event is offered free of charge thanks to generous support from the community and the State of Michigan.
Local, regional, and national performing artists will perform throughout the day. Artists include: Toledo’s popular early jazz and ragtime band, Ragtime Rick and The Chefs of Dixieland; Adrian’s own Los Hermanos; Detroit’s exciting children’s entertainer, Gordon the Magician; and Smithsonian Folkways Artist Jerron Paxton from New York City, who will bring his world-renowned folk performance and then join the Raisin Ragtime Revue’s 13-piece orchestra during the evening’s final set.
The Wall Street Journal has described Paxton as "virtually the only music-maker of his generation—playing guitar, banjo, piano, and violin, among other implements—to fully assimilate the blues idiom of the 1920s and ‘30s.”
Adrian’s Braxton Garza, who was recently featured on NBC’s The Voice will perform a special bicentennial tribute that will merge Adrian's musical past and future. He will sing music written by J. R. Shannon, an Irish-American songwriter who grew up in Adrian over a hundred years ago. Braxton will perform renditions of Shannon's "Missouri Waltz" (recorded by Johnny Cash) and "Irish Lullaby" (recorded by Bing Crosby).
The River Raisin Ragtime Revue orchestra will present several musical tributes to Adrian’s past and future. The 13-piece ragtime ensemble will perform “A Page Fence March,” published by Adrian’s Page Woven Fence Company in 1898 and “Adrian Merchants Jubilee,” a syncopated two-step published in Adrian in 1899. The orchestra will perform Scott Joplin’s “Chrysanthemum,” recognizing Adrian’s title of “The Chyrsanthemum City” for its production of varieties of this flower under Elmer D. Smith’s guidance. Adrian’s railroad history will be commemorated with a performance of Luckey Robert’s “Railroad Blues.” The City of Adrian has also commissioned “Maple City Rag,” which will be premiered by R4 during their set. A copy of this new work will also be put in the bicentennial time capsule.
The Adrian Center for the Arts will also be celebrating their 10th anniversary during the Extravaganza and will feature outdoor demonstrations and exhibitions all day. Demonstrations will include glass blowing, ceramics, painting, and more.
Complimenting the music and art activities will be multiple exhibitions of Adrian’s history, as well as booths from local history and service organizations. PlaneWave Instruments, Adrian’s telescope manufacturer and proprietor of the campus, will offer tours of their facilities. Vintage Model T era automobiles, led by the Central Michigan Ts, will be on hand to view and participate in a campus parade.
A variety of food trucks will be on hand, as well as craft beer from Blissfield’s Four Keys Brewing.
Children’s activities will include an interactive art table, musical instrument petting zoo, a bounce house, face painting, chalk art, and lawn games. A caricature artist will be on hand for quick personalized sketches.
The evening concert will feature a cakewalk contest with cakes as prizes and a raffle drawing with a $1,000 cash prize.
The event is concluded with evening fireworks.
Events officially begin at 2PM on the PlaneWave campus, which is located at 1375 N. Main St. across from the LISD/Jackson College campuses. Continuous shuttles will run from the downtown farmers market pavilion to the PlaneWave campus starting at 1PM until after the fireworks at dark.
Major event sponsors include the Michigan Arts and Culture Council, the City of Adrian, and Orsted.
For more information and a complete schedule of all events visit ragtimeband.org/annual-ragtime-extravaganza.
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